Today we’re going to put our scientific eye-on-propulsion. (See what I did there?)
I don’t know about you, but when I see a nice blue-colored flame coming from ANYTHING, my immediate response is as follows:
WICKED
So today, in honor (or honour, as Ben would say) of the successful Hayabusa mission, I’m going to give you a VERY brief, VERY simple explanation on Ion Propulsion technology.
Math and science sure are fun, but what are geeks to do once they go home after a long day under the fume hood? There are many hobbies that can be adapted to soothe the nerdy soul and one that may even enhance mathematical prowess and intuition.
Brace yourselves, it’s crochet. Yep, crocheting, just like your grandma and great aunt Ethel used to do can produce more than scratchy afghans to adorn your parlor. It can answer questions like “will straight, parallel lines intersect on a curved surface” or “does my hypothetical pseudosphere agree with Bolyai-Lobachevskian geometry”? Granted, non-Euclidean geometry sounds pretty fancy, but just watch as it unfolds before your eyes into a three dimensional and easily manipulated model when rendered with yarn and a hook. (Visit the Institute For Figuring’s (IFF) online exhibit of hyperbolic space for a more extensive introduction.)
Continue reading Math… sort of
It’s Friday. Here’s some stuff. Anyone tells me what the picture that goes with the post means you’ll get a prize. It’s that simple.
Hi guys, i haven’t been able to update the next segment of the “twin paradox” saga, on account of being in Toronto for the Canadian Association of Physicists conference. I gave a talk, where i presented my research on quantum-collapsing matter turning into a black hole. I talked to all sorts of folks. Also, many of the friends i have made over the years and across the continent are at this conference, and it’s great to catch up!
I suppose the funnest talk I heard was by a gentleman named Kipp Cannon, and he presented a talk where the LIGO gravitational wave detector could be used to look for COSMIC STRINGS whose gravitational waves rumble like thunder… If they exit.
Toronto, the capital of the province of Ontario, is canada’s largest city. almost 3 million people! and the university is within walking distance from all sorts of fun food! I’ve eaten Ethiopian food, and Ramen, and Udon, and a PIZZA SLICE bigger than my head.
The moral of the story is that the CAP conference is lots of fun. and also, that Toronto is a surprisingly wonderful and charming city and well worth a visit. (Also I have found the Sneaky Dee’s restaurant that appears in the scott pilgrim books, and i’ve also gotten lost in HONEST ED’S!!!)
A ‘friend’ of mine wants to lend me the book The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments which is about elegant and simple experiments done to figure out some really fundamental stuff about our universe. It sounds pretty good but I figured I should take a moment and come up with my own favorite experiments first before reading it. If there’s overlap I’ll seem on top of my game, if there’s not I’ll seem original. Win-win. So with that in mind I’d like to present my top four favorite experiments scientists (or just humans) have done and why I like them so much. Why only four and not five or even ten? I wrote too much and didn’t want to push your interest to the breaking point, so enjoy what you’ve got and suggest a 5th in the comments!
SpaceX, a private aerospace company founded by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, successfully launched their Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, FL (20 miles from where I work) into Low Earth Orbit (LEO), around 155 miles from Earth’s surface.
View from my bedroom window… OK not really, but almost.
SCREEE… *record scratch*
This launch was not the first private company to launch a rocket into LEO, they did have funding & assistance from NASA, and the launch configuration was not a simulation for human flight.
So why was this such a momentous occasion? Find out after the jump…
Continue reading SpaceX and the Future of Human Space Flight
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Exotic mysteries that flow underneath a seemingly familiar surface teem with opportunities for the inquisitive mind. A most literal and timely example is the topic of ocean circulation. As the erudite listeners of Science… sort of may already know; not only is the earth quite a bit rounder than once thought, the oceans that dance on its surface are not mere mixing bowls of uniformly salty fluids churned by a flick of King Neptune’s trident. Ocean water is stratified into layers that separate because of differential densities controlled by temperature and salinity. As water moves, it travels along planes of constant density (isopycnals); which means that on average, water is more likely to flow laterally rather than vertically.
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Or the thing we don’t have a better name for yet but hopefully is entertaining regardless.
No you misheard. I said “twin PARADOX”. As in: a situation where the outcome seems counterintuitive or contradictory. The twin paradox is a famous paradox closely associated with Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity.
Simply put, you take a set of twins. Born on the same day, on the same year, to the same Mom. We’ll call one of them Liz, and the other Ben. We take Ben and send him on a trip into space on a rocket (or throw him too close to a black hole)… and after a couple years, he returns from his exile and goes to see his twin. It’s their birthday after all (suppose that it’s also their birthday).
But as they put candles on their cake, they realize that Ben is MUCH YOUNGER than Liz! A whole handful of candles! How can this be? Neither twin has access to a TARDIS. Each twin denies undergoing any magical or science-y procedure (aside from the rocket trip, but Ben contends that he mostly just sat around in a room playing nintendo). Each twin recalls each and every day since they parted, years ago, and claims that nothing strange has happened. It’s a mystery! No! It’s more than a mystery: it’s a PARADOX.
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You know how hard it can be organizing a group of friend’s, right? I hate it; I loathe trying to herd my friends. It either ends up a disorganized mess where nothing gets done or I become the drill sergeant insisting on regimented fun set to a specific schedule. I feel like I lose either way, and as War Games has taught me, the only way to win is not to play. So what’s a guy to do when presented with an opportunity to show large chunks of his friends a good time? The only option is to wrangle all your friends. *Sigh* This is the story of Nightlife.
